We advance the understanding of robotic intervention in high-risk scenarios by examining their potential to distract and impede a school shooter. To evaluate this concept, we conducted a virtual reality study with 150 university participants role-playing as a school shooter. Within the simulation, an autonomous robot predicted the shooter's movements and positioned itself strategically to interfere and distract. The strategy the robot used to approach the shooter was manipulated -- either moving directly in front of the shooter (aggressive) or maintaining distance (passive) -- and the distraction method, ranging from no additional cues (low), to siren and lights (medium), to siren, lights, and smoke to impair visibility (high). An aggressive, high-distraction robot reduced the number of victims by 46.6% relative to a no-robot control. This outcome underscores both the potential of robotic intervention to enhance safety and the pressing ethical questions surrounding their use in school environments.

Deputy Aaron Garcia, of the U.S. Marshals Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Team, details arrests of parents of suspected Michigan school shooter. The accused Michigan high school shooter convinced school officials ahead of the deadly rampage that violent drawings he made were for a "video game," a letter released Saturday by the school shows. "On the morning of Nov. 30, a teacher observed concerning drawings and written statements that have been detailed in media reports, which the teacher reported to school counselors and the Dean of students. The student was immediately removed from the classroom and brought to the guidance counselor's office where he claimed the drawing was part of a video game he was designing and informed counselors that he planned to pursue video game design as a career," a letter sent to the Oxford High School community from Oxford Community Schools superintendent Tim Thorne on Saturday states. Ethan Crumbley, 15, allegedly shot and killed four students and injured seven others at Oxford High School.

An Upstate New York school is using facial recognition technology to help it spot possible school shooters or escaped felons on campus. Lockport City School District has installed a surveillance system in a high school, middle school and several elementary schools that scans students' faces to check for matches in its security database. The controversial move has attracted pushback from local parents, privacy advocates and some legislators who say it could invade students' privacy. Each client who chooses to install the system is able to choose which information is loaded into its database. They may source the material from local mugshot databases or images of students who've been expelled.